Thursday, October 28, 2004

Friday, 29 October, 2004

This week's devotions are written by Redeemer member Katie Kent.



When life gives you lemons……..



I assume we can all finish this phrase. Optimists love to share it with you when you're having a rough way to go. I confess that most of the time I like to see the glass as half full too. However, the lemon into lemonade thing really gets on my nerves. It's so cliché. I favor a different approach.



When life gives you manure…… you make fertilizer.



Yes, I know it is a little gross. But let's face it- when you're having a really bad day you don't want to think about citrus fruit. Lemons by themselves are not inherently bad. They smell nice, they look nice, and they have a multitude of uses. Manure on the other hand… well let's just say I don't think we'll be seeing a manure scented dish soap any time soon.



Connection: God created this universe. He knows everything about everything. He knows that bad things happen, and that sometimes it seems everywhere we step there's another pile of unpleasantness waiting for us. But the key is to remember everything happens as part of a bigger picture. Think back to your biology classes. One thing's waste is an integral part of another thing's livelihood.



The same theory applies in our lives. I have seen it in my own. I found myself in an absolutely horrible situation, and at the time I could not possibly imagine that anything good could come of it. Yet God has a plan, and with time all is revealed. Looking back, I can see how he used my unfortunate set of circumstances to enable me to help others with similar problems. So if you find yourself going through hard times… just remember the more fertilizer you have now, the bigger and more beautiful your garden will be later.



For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Jeremiah 29:11



Dearest Lord, we ask for strength and comfort during our difficult times. Help us to always remember you have a plan. Give us patience as we wait to see the glorious garden our hardships will produce. Amen.



Tuesday, October 26, 2004

Thuesday, 28 October, 2004

This week's devotions are written by Redeemer member Katie Kent.



In 1995 a Christian Rock band named DC Talk released a single entitled "Jesus Freak". The Chorus of the song is as follows:



What will people think when they hear that I'm a Jesus freak?

What will people do when they find out it's true?

I don't really care if they label me a Jesus freak.

There ain't no disguising the truth.



This upbeat mix of rap and heavy metal took the Christian Pop music world by storm. The album's first week sales were the highest in history for a Christian band. I remember I was in college and a bunch of my friends were proudly wearing t-shirts that simply said "Freak". Though I didn't have a t-shirt, I did put a line from the song on my email signature. It said "People say I'm strange. Does it make me a stranger that my best friend was born in a manger?"



Our society has a tendency to put negative labels on people because they are different from the norm. If you are considered a "freak", more often than not it's a bad thing. Something about you makes you strange or weird. You can become an outcast.



Connection: Our world today seems ruled by violence, deceit, and empty promises. These things completely contradict what it means to be a follower of Jesus. So, it is possible that when we share the Good News, and when we promote peace and truth, we are in fact separating ourselves from those that do not share our point of view. To them, we can be considered strange, weird, or even freaks.



It is very hard to stand up for what you believe in when that view may not be the popular way to think. By doing so, you may subject yourself to name calling, ridicule, and/or intense debate. But if you think it is difficult today to speak out, think about what the early Christians had to face.



There was a man from the desert with naps in his head

The sand that he walked was also his bed

The words that he spoke made the people assume

There wasn't too much left in the upper room

With skins on his back and hair on his face

They thought he was strange by the locusts he ate

The Pharisees tripped when they heard him speak

Until the king took the head of this Jesus freak



Heavenly Father, embolden us today. Help us to gladly accept the label of Jesus freak, and continue spreading Your Word. Amen



Tuesday, 26 October, 2004

This week's devotions are written by Redeemer member Katie Kent.



"Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise." Psalm 66: 1-2 (NRSV)



Joyful Noise



Those two words seem curiously put together. When I think of something that is noisy- I more often than not will think of something that is unpleasant to hear. For instance, that clicking, squealing, ka-chunking sound that tells you you're about to spend a small fortune to fix your car. Or that all too familiar Boom, ba-boom of the bass that's turned up too loud in car next to you at the stop light. Or maybe a few barks, followed by a cat's hiss, then the thunder of many 4-legged creatures running across a tile floor, and finally the crash when all kinds of things fall off tables in the middle of the night… or maybe that last one's just at my house.



But these same sounds when heard by someone else may not be unpleasant. The mechanic earns his living when our cars make weird sounds. The person with the obnoxious bass obviously likes it, and it probably lifts his/her mood to listen to it. Though the animals may act out occasionally, a happy bark or a purring ball of fur does bring happiness to our lives.



Connection: The words of the psalmist tell us to make a joyful noise to God and give him glorious praise. Many people might do this by using the musical talents God has given them. But what if you don't have any musical talent? IT'S OKAY!!! The psalm doesn't say make a melodious, perfectly harmonized and orchestrated operetta to God. It says make a JOYFUL NOISE. It doesn't matter if you couldn't carry a tune in a ten gallon bucket, or if the idea of clapping on the off beat completely confuses you. To God, any and all noise we make in praise to Him is beautiful. He will never tell us we're too noisy!



Gracious Lord, thank you for our varied talents and skills, and help us to find new ways each day to make noise and to praise You. Amen.



Sunday, October 24, 2004

Monday, 25 October, 2004

This week's devotions are written by Redeemer member Katie Kent.



"Can you imagine dying for your friends?

Can you imagine dying for your enemies?

Jesus lived it, and he did it,

Yes he did it just for me.



Can you imagine dying for the future?

Can you imagine dying for the past?

Jesus lived, and he did it,

Yes he did it just for me.



I can't imagine anyone who'd do what he has done.

But Jesus wasn't anyone,

He was God's only son.



Can you imagine dying for your Father?

Can you imagine dying for your faith?

Jesus lived it, and he did it,

Yes he did it just for me.



Yes he did it, for you and me.



Can you imagine?"



These are the lyrics to a song my mother wrote. (If you know her, encourage her to get it published please! I've been trying to get her to do it for years.) If you've been a member of our church for some time, chances are you've heard the children's choir sing this song a time or two. She wrote it specifically for the season of Lent because the world of sacred music for children seems lacking in material that actually deals with Jesus' death before the celebration of Easter. I wanted to share it because the words may be simple, but the message is powerful.



When was the last time you used your imagination? Use your imagination to put yourself in the place of Jesus. How does it make you feel? How does it impact your faith?



Connection: Have you ever tried to talk to a good friend and they tell you "I understand", but you know they really don't? They love you, and so they try to sympathize with your situation. They may imagine what it would be like for them in that same situation. Sometimes we may think that God does the same thing. We may tell ourselves that talking to Him is pointless. How could He possibly KNOW how we're feeling? God is a deity; a supernatural, omnipotent, intangible entity. He could only imagine what we're going through… right?



That's where Jesus comes in. God doesn't have to imagine anything about us. He knows exactly how we feel because He was human. He knows what it feels like to have sorrow, joy, jealousy, and I bet he even knows what it feels like to be tickled.



Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of your son Jesus. Help us to deepen our understanding of Your Word by using our imaginations. Amen



Thursday, October 21, 2004

Friday, 22 October, 2004

This week's devotions are written by Vicar Steve Bond.



And now, the last installment drawing from Marva Dawn's Powers, Weakness, and the Tabernacling of God…



Prayer is the root of all our faithfulness. In the weakness of prayer, God visits-and stays.



I have been wrestling, especially over the last six months, with why we bother to pray, and particularly why we bother to ask for things in prayer. The recurring arguments go something like this: if God already knows everything, including what I and others need, why do I need to pray for those needs? For that matter, if God is so good and gracious, will God not do something unless I poke and prod with petitions and prayers? I still think these are valid questions, and I have come up with no satisfying answers (although I am increasingly wary of any theological question that starts with "if God is _________, then…" rather than "since God…").



That said, I continue to pray, without having come close to understanding why or how it works. The questions don't stop me from praying, any more than my ignorance of human biology keeps me from breathing or my lack of knowledge of psychology keeps me from talking honestly with people whom I trust and love. My logic tells me that it is inefficient and redundant to pray; in some ways, it surely is. But it is simply a part of who I am-and even more a part of who God is-that I, that we, should be led to pray. There is something wonderfully humbling about praying without understanding the inner workings of doing it. And it is wonderfully humbling to be led in prayer to let God show me myself honestly-weaknesses, warts, and all. It is all I can do-it is all any of us can do-to lift up these fragile, empty hands trusting that they will be held by God's.



Connection: Today, find a moment to pray in the freedom of humility. Be honest about who you are, and let yourself be held-simply be held-by God.



Lord, take us as we are, speak your love to us again, and make us to hear it amidst the sound of all our questions. Amen



Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Thursday, 21 October, 2004

This week's devotions are written by Vicar Steve Bond.



More from Marva Dawn's Powers, Weakness, and the Tabernacling of God. Here, Dawn quotes French Archbishop Cardinal Suhard:



"To be a witness does not consist in engaging in propaganda or even in stirring people up, but in being a living mystery; it means to live in such a way that one's life would not make sense if God did not exist."



I think I'm within the bounds of sound Lutheran theology to say that the point of evangelism, of witnessing to the faith, is not to win or convert souls by getting people to make a decision for Jesus. Awakening hearts to the grace of God in Jesus Christ-who is the way, the truth, and the life-is the work of the Holy Spirit, for whom I can only be at best a cracked and leaky vessel. At the same time, evangelism is always more than mere hospitality to the strangers who wander into church. My witness is more than being generically nice to people and knowing that if they twist my arm, I'll reveal that I'm-secretly-a Christian.



Beyond both of those options, being a witnessing community means, as one writer puts it, being "God's counter-cultural option for the world." It means living with such a joyful and sure trust in being embraced by God that people are led to question why they are still trying to earn each other's approval and God's mercy. It means radiating such a reckless compassion for others that people cannot help but to stop and to stare and to look for the God who has loved us first. Being a witness means taking the rest of letting people see the ways God has embraced us in our weakness and loved us freely.



Connection: What are the ways that we still act as though we had to earn God's love? How do we declare by our lives that we are still bound prisoner by sin? What would it look like instead if we let grace take complete hold of us? After all, we can't help but be a witness-the question is to what or to whom we will witness.



Lord, let your love seep into us. Make your mercy so real, your grace so strong, that we cannot help but live it out.



Wednesday, 20 October, 2004

This week's devotions are written by Vicar Steve Bond.



More from Marva Dawn's Powers, Weakness, and the Tabernacling of God



Whatever liberation our churches bring to others must come not from our exertion of alternate (specifically oppressive) powers, but from the tabernacling of God in our particular community, guiding us to distinct ways to love our neighbors.



Everyone is playing a game. Business people, jobless people, liberal people, conservative people, "religious" people-we're all playing games. The church is no different here, and to imagine that we are somehow above the rest of the world or have matured beyond playing is rather arrogant, frankly (not that this stops us from thinking it, though). We are called to live right in the thick of the world, loving it as God loves it. So it's not that we're too grown up to play life's games, but rather that God's grace has freed us to play by different rules. We no longer have to judge people by their prettiness or power, and we don't have to hold back from loving people who aren't on our team.



Now, to a world still playing by old rules-where what matters is getting the most points or proving you're the best-we will look silly. But that is the playful foolishness of God: while everyone else is intensely playing Battleship and Monopoly, Jesus invites us with a laugh to get up and join in "Follow the Leader" with him. What foolishness-what utterly divine foolishness.



Connection: Take your faith seriously today: let God's freely given love sink in and lead you to a playful delight in the goodness of life-in work, in family, in your resources-and to a joyful laughter in the freedom you have in Christ.



Gracious God, you set a table before me in the presence of my enemies, and my cup overflows. Coax me to drink of it deeply with joy, and lead me to invite them to sit down and share the meal.



Monday, October 18, 2004

Tuesday, 19 October, 2004

This week's devotions are written by Vicar Steve Bond.



More from Marva Dawn's Powers, Weakness, and the Tabernacling of God



The Christian life does not spring from a "cause," which often becomes an idolatry and often attempts to abuse power. Instead, Christian life moves toward an "end," the goal of God's fulfillment of the kingdom, which we receive both now and in the end by God's tabernacling in our weakness and at the end of time (2 Cor. 12:9-10 and Rev. 21:3). Meanwhile, the church not only lives in light of the future shalom of God and proclaims it to our neighbors, we also take steps together in humility to display the meaning of God's peace.



At our most faithful, the church is an "odd" people. As we live in the world (and that is just as much a part of being faithful), we will always be somehow out-of-step with the rest of the world. Almost as if we lived in a different time zone, we are called to live in the present while oriented toward God's future reign and God's past saving acts. So unlike all the institutions and systems that seek to preserve the order of things as-they-are (whether in the name of national security or promoting prosperity or keeping our comfortable way of life), the church is always called to embody the life-that-is-to-come. And so, as we look forward to the day when all creation is at peace, we live at peace and promote peace now. As we pray, "Your kingdom come," we live in ways that point to the Reign of God now.



But at the same time, as the people of God, we are always unlike so many social activist movements that are convinced that they will bring about the "kingdom" (however they conceive of it) on their own. We are freed from the illusion that the fate of the universe rests on our shoulders. Rather, the grace of God reminds us that life in Christ centers not on what I do, but on what God has done, is doing, and will do. And so as we trust that God will be at work in all we do, we also know that God is the primary actor. Because the "kingdom" we pray and hope for is God's, we can trust with a sure hope that God will really bring about that final reign of peace. And that hope sustains us to live out our calling as the odd people of God.



Connection: Since we trust that the future remains in God's hands, ours are free to point to God's final, gracious Reign, even as other hands shake fists at each other or grasp at present power. It is enough for us to point.



Let us be your hands today, Lord, even those nail-scarred hands that embrace the world in love.



Sunday, October 17, 2004

Monday, 18 October, 2004

This week's devotions are written by Vicar Steve Bond.



More from Marva Dawn's Powers, Weakness, and the Tabernacling of God



"This is the major paradox of the Christian life: in our active weakness, God's power is at work through us. Faithfulness is required, but success is not….The church's call is to exorcism, rather than effectiveness. Perhaps one of the most recalcitrant spirits that needs to be exorcised is that of needing to be effective."



"Success" is one of those words in the American vocabulary (along with "freedom," "progress," and others) that is thrown around so frequently that it almost loses its meaning. Parents dream that their children will be "successful." The CEOs who make millions for their shareholders and the coaches who win impressive victories are labeled "successes." Moving from rags to riches is synonymous with living a "success story." Churches, too, want their campaigns to be successful-which often means raising enough money or achieving a particular result. Whatever "success" is, it usually seems to mean having enough raw power, talent, or skill to get what you want. Success, as I hear it used, suggests that I have worked hard enough to earn what I'm after or win a prize.



Jesus, however, does not seem interested in success on those terms. Seemingly, if his goal was to establish a worldwide order of justice, security, and peace, he failed. Even if his intent was converting people to a bold, unflagging faith, he was unsuccessful - as the footprints leading away from the empty tomb left by unbelieving disciples fleeing in fear and confusion will attest. For Jesus, success is not about my working hard enough to get what I want. It is rather the faithful surrender to God that says, "Not what I want, but what you want" (Mark 14:36). That is all the success Jesus cares to have, even though it leads to a cross.



For us as followers of Jesus, our greatest success is to offer ourselves to God in the empty-handed trust that God will take care of the rest. In fact, the God revealed in Jesus seems to undo the whole logic of success, for this God has claimed us "while we were still weak," as Paul says (Rom. 5:6). This God has loved us in our unloveliness, and that love has come in the form of a cross. Maybe success looks a lot more like surrender than victory.



Connection: How would I approach my life and my work differently if my first question were not "what must I do to get what I - or my company or my peers - want?" but rather "how can I be faithful to the God who loves me?" What kind of freedom would that bring? What new challenges would it bring?



Empty our hands, Lord, so that you can use them in your service, and open our hands so that we can receive the gifts of your grace.



Thursday, October 14, 2004

Friday, 15 October, 2004

This week's devotions are written by Vicar Steve Bond.



More from Marva Dawn's Powers, Weakness, and the Tabernacling of God



True weakness - that is a genuine fulfillment of the church's true vocation as a power-if found, for example, in vulnerability to our brothers' and sisters' needs (Rom. 12), openness to each other's rebukes (1 Thess. 5:12, 14), genuine hospitality to the needy (Matt. 25) and to other saints (2 and 3 John). This fellowship is violated by such powers as business policies, mammon, technologies, and even democracy, when these are stretched beyond their proper vocation.



If often hear it said that there is strength in numbers. In some ways, it is true for our life as Christians - together, we can weather the distresses of life, we pool and share our resources to do more work, and we build each other up. To be sure, there is strength in numbers. But at the same time, I think one of the most precious gifts of Christian community is that there is weakness in numbers. As a community, we are freed to be vulnerable, to lay ourselves open to each other, because we are first and foremost defined as the beloved of God. We are compelled to bear with-and to forgive - each other, and that requires admitting our weaknesses and failings.



In a culture that so greatly values strength (and in which both presidential candidates are promising to make our country stronger), that might not sound like a good thing. But it is precisely as we forgive one another and share ourselves honestly - as we are seemingly weak for each other - that we are most faithfully the people of God. It is when we are open and willing to risk ourselves before each other that God's love and acceptance of me are embodied and made real for me. It is as we challenge and lift each other up in humility that God is able to shape, change, and direct me. It is as we are weak for each other that God's dwelling among us takes on flesh and bone.



Connection: Today, someone will embody the grace of God for you, and today you will be the hands and feet of Jesus for someone, too.



Gracious God, you have come to us in the human face of Jesus. Come to us in the midst of our humanity today.



Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Thursday, 14 October, 2004

This week's devotions are written by Vicar Steve Bond.



More from Marva Dawn's Powers, Weakness, and the Tabernacling of God



If our Christianity were true [to the God revealed in Christ], it would itself actually be subversive of every other kind of power, including mammon, political power, religious phenomena, morality, and culture….Because we are members of Christ's Body, we must let his Word describe our world rather than vice versa. To let ideologies control our theological work is to be subverted by powers other than God.



Even though it can come off as separatist or naively other-worldly, I like the language of Christianity as subversive. It reminds me in my most comfortable, satisfied moments that the Jesus whom I claim to follow lived and acted in ways that questioned every other system and redefined every category around - he lived as though the outcast were let in, the self-admitting sinners were the true believers, and the losers were the winners. He lived as though he was not a subject of the Roman Empire or under Herod's rule, as if he believed those old orders didn't have ultimate claims on him, as if the Kingdom of God really had come near. Jesus lived in an incredible, subversive freedom that redrew lines and redefined creation as first and foremost belonging to God, and his most subversive act of all was to die freely on a Roman cross.



As the community of followers of Jesus - or better yet, as those Jesus has claimed to belong to him - we have been given that same subversive freedom: to see the world with a new clarity, a new definition, even a re-definition. And suddenly, old lines - between red and blue states, between deserving and undeserving, between ally and enemy-are radically redrawn. Suddenly, old categories no longer stick to us. Suddenly, in the midst of squabbling empires clamoring to tell us who to be, we can live as if the Reign of God really has come near.



Connection: How would I act if I were completely free from all claims of who I should be and what I should care about-from the morning news, from campaign ads, from cultural voices - except for the claim of Christ in baptism that I belong to God? How would God's claim redefine who I am and free me to live?



Lord, you are a God who speaks. Speak again to us - in the midst of countless voices shouting at us-so that we can clearly hear your promise above the din. Tell us again who we are and to whom we belong.



Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Wednesday, 13 October, 2004

This week's devotions are written by Vicar Steve Bond.



More from Marva Dawn's Powers, Weakness, and the Tabernacling of God



Just as powers overstep their bounds and become gods, so our power becomes a rival to God. As the Psalms and Isaiah teach us, God's way is not to take us out of tribulations, but to comfort us in the midst of them and to "exchange" our strength in the face of them. By our union Christ in the power of the Spirit in our weakness, we display God's glory.



Maybe it was easier to name idolatry back in the days of the prophets - if you made yourself a statue, called it Baal or Molech or Asherah or some such name, and prayed to it, you were worshipping an ido. More challenging, but still relatively easy to do is the prophetic task today of identifying and questioning the monolithic "isms" out there in the world - nationalism, racism, capitalism, and individualism (the pantheon of isms goes on and on) - when we see them as objects of worship in society at large. Most difficult of all, perhaps, is recognizing our own tendency to trust in what is not God, and then to name those idols as obstacles to God's work in us.



"What I really need, God, is more money (or insert "the approval of others," or "my candidate in office," or any of a host of other objects of our affection) - then I will be secure," we say.



"No," says God, with a voice at once so powerful that it smashes to pebbles all our idols and yet so gentle that it comforts our anxious hearts like a whisper at our ears, "what you really need is me. And I give you myself."



Connection: Today we are given the gift of honesty - to expose in our lives and in our world those things opposed to the Reign of God as the idols they are, and to come with empty hands, without pretense, before the living God.



Our Father in heaven, let your will be done in us as you work in our weakness. Deliver us from ourselves, and give us this day what we really need.



Tuesday, 12 October, 2004

This week's devotions are written by Vicar Steve Bond.



More from Marva Dawn's



Even as Christ accomplished atonement for us by suffering and death, so the Lord accomplishes witness to the world through our weakness. In fact, God has more need of our weakness than of our strength.



We are easily convinced that our identity is based on our ability - that our value as a nation comes from being a superpower able to crush enemies across the globe, that our worth as congregations is dependent on packing more people into the pews or more programs onto the calendar, and that our status as the beloved of God is bound up with our résumés. And it is only a short step for us to assume that the only way God can get anything done is through our strength - in armed forces, in numbers and offerings, or in skills acquired. So it is disappointing, even threatening, to take an honest look at ourselves and to see all the ways we don't have it all together and to admit all that lies beyond our power. But God isn't disappointed with our weakness, and God hasn't settled for us. God has chosen us, knowing our limitations. God has called us, intending to working through our weaknesses. What on earth will that look like? We have no idea - only the promise that it is up to God to make it happen.



Connection: God will truly be at work in us and through us today - maybe in ways that we will never know about.



Lord, take the fragile pieces of me - the jumble of gifts, thoughts, loves, feelings, and flaws that comprise who I am - hold them as you always have in your sure and gentle hands, and use them in this day.



Sunday, October 10, 2004

Monday, 11 October, 2004

This week's devotions are written by Vicar Steve Bond.



For these next two weeks, we'll be drawing from Marva Dawn's 2001 book, Powers, Weakness, and the Tabernacling of God as a starting point. The central thrust of the selected passages is that God in Christ is most clearly seen in weakness, and that the church-the very body of Christ-is called to embody that weakness for the glory of God. So without further ado, let's jump in…



Through his astheneia [the Greek word for "weakness"] Christ gave himself up to death-totally emptying himself and becoming obedient to the worst of deaths, as the letter to the Philippians asserts (2:5-10). Such a totality of weakness, of perfect submission to the will of the Father (as frequently recorded in the Gospel of John) makes possible the perfection of God's tabernacling in the world through Christ.



The Christian story is in many ways the story of God coming to be with people. The outright absurdity of this story's claim is that God seems to have a penchant for coming to be with people in foolish and weak ways-from dwelling in a movable tent, the tabernacle, in Israel's wilderness days, to roughing it and camping with the dejected and deflated exiles, and then most clearly to pitching that same tent in the fragile human flesh of Jesus. And amazingly, impossibly, God wills to be found not so much in the majestic and pristine heights of heaven or speaking as a muse through beautiful art or music, but in the weakness and ugliness of that human Jesus dying on a cross.



The upshot of this claim - if it is true - is that all our worries that we have to be good enough, all our juggling acts keeping work and family and status up in the air and on track to "success," all our fears that there is a minimum holiness requirement in order to "get in" to meet God, all of those are brought to an end since we have been embraced by God as we are and without pretense. We can be honest about where our limitations and weaknesses are, because ours is a God who seems to find us right there in our failings, dressed up in weakness just like us.



Connection: What if today, I could be honest with myself about my failures and mistakes? What if I were freed from posturing with my peers and pretending that I've got it all together? What if I didn't have to put on a smile for the world today, but could trust that I am loved even in sadness? What if God saw me as I really am-and still loved me? The audacious claim of faith is that those are all realities - no more "what ifs." And that's the gospel truth.



Gracious God, you come to find us in our weakness and fragility. Give us the courage to come and meet you there.



Friday, October 8, 2004

Friday, 8 October, 2004

This week's devotions are written by Redeemer member Judith Bird.



The final indicator of faith maturity according to "Exploring Faith Maturity" addresses sharing the good news.



Using the following scale, score yourself on the following two statements:

1 = Never true

2 = Rarely true

3 = True once in a while

4 = Sometimes true

5 = Often true

6 = Almost always true

7 = Always true



___ I am thrilled when I see a person's life changed because of Jesus Christ.

___ Telling people that Jesus Christ died for their sins is one of the most important things in my life.



Add your scores and divide by two. If your average is higher than five, this dimension of faith is well-developed.



According to the authors, sharing one's faith doesn't necessarily mean preaching. "Rather, it can be a matter of letting others know what values guide your decisions and where those values came from - your faith. It can mean talking about the insights or good feelings you got from Bible study, church activities, prayer or other faith experiences."



Colossians 4:5-6 tells, "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."



Connection: Invite someone to an upcoming church activity or worship service.



Prayer: O Lord, help me to remember that faith is assurance not insurance and that faith even the size of a mustard seed can work wonders. Amen.



Wednesday, October 6, 2004

Thursday, 7 October, 2004

This week's devotions are written by Redeemer member Judith Bird.



Today we will explore the eighth indicator of faith maturity according to "Exploring Faith Maturity" which deals with acting and serving.



Using the following scale, score yourself on the following five statements:

1 = Never true

2 = Rarely true

3 = True once in a while

4 = Sometimes true

5 = Often true

6 = Almost always true

7 = Always true



___ I do things to help protect the environment.

___ I go out of my way to show love to people I meet.

___ In my free time, I help people who have problems or needs.

___ I am active in efforts to promote social justice.

___ I am active in efforts to promote world peace.



Add your scores and divide by five. If your average is higher than five, this dimension of faith is well-developed.



According to the authors, acting and serving involves rolling up your sleeves and helping people without expecting anything in return. It is in Matthew 25:31-46 where Jesus talks about feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, caring for the sick and visiting those in prison. "'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.'"



Connection: Where might you see Jesus today? What can you do to help?



Prayer: O Lord, send me forth to lovingly and courageously carry out your purposes among the people I meet along the way. Amen.



Wednesday, 6 October, 2004

This week's devotions are written by Redeemer member Judith Bird.



According to "Exploring Faith Maturity," the seventh indicator of faith maturity deals with advocating social change.



Using the following scale, score yourself on the following four statements:

1 = Never true

2 = Rarely true

3 = True once in a while

4 = Sometimes true

5 = Often true

6 = Almost always true

7 = Always true



___ I care a great deal about reducing poverty in the United States and throughout the world.

___ I am concerned that our country is not doing enough to help the poor.

___ I think Christians must be about the business of creating international understanding and harmony.

___ I want the churches of this nation to get involved in political issues.



Add your scores and divide by four. If your average is higher than five, this dimension of faith is well-developed.



In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus kicked off his ministry reading the following from Isaiah:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to release the oppressed,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.




Connection: How would that charge be worded for today's world?



Prayer: O Lord, help me to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with you. Amen.



Monday, October 4, 2004

Tuesday, 5 October, 2004

This week's devotions are written by Redeemer member Judith Bird.



According to "Exploring Faith Maturity," the sixth indicator of faith maturity deals with nurturing faith in community. In 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, Paul describes the church as a body in which each part depends on the other. "The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you,' nor again the head to the feet, 'I have no need of you.' On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable … If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it."



Using the following scale, score yourself on the following four statements:

1 = Never true

2 = Rarely true

3 = True once in a while

4 = Sometimes true

5 = Often true

6 = Almost always true

7 = Always true



___ I like to worship and pray with others.

___ I talk with other people about my faith.

___ I help others with their religious questions and struggles.

___ I feel God's presence in my relationships with other people.



Add your scores and divide by four. If your average is higher than five, this dimension of faith is well-developed.



As Christians, we need each other, and we need to spend time together. God has created a wonderfully diverse world of people with diverse skills and gifts.



Connection: Identify the part of the body you think fits you best. How does that play out daily?



Prayer: O Lord, help me to remember that you cherish and love each and every other person with whom I come into contact just as you do me. Amen.





Sunday, October 3, 2004

Monday, 4 October, 2004

This week's devotions are written by Redeemer member Judith Bird.



Last week we began exploring questions about what faith is and how it is demonstrated in everyday life using "Exploring Faith Maturity: A Self-Study Guide," by Eugene Roehlkepartain and Dorothy Williams and published by Lutheran Brotherhood (now Thrivent). We got through four of the nine dimensions of the Christian faith that the book lays out in its "self assessment." Today, we pick up with up with the fifth "indicator" which the authors term "experiencing the fruits of faith."



Using the following scale, score yourself on the following five statements:

1 = Never true

2 = Rarely true

3 = True once in a while

4 = Sometimes true

5 = Often true

6 = Almost always true

7 = Always true



___ My life is filled with meaning and purpose.

___ I don't have a hard time accepting myself.

___ I do not feel overwhelmed by all my responsibilities and obligations.

___ I am confident that I can overcome any problem or crisis, no matter how serious.

___ My life is not filled with stress and anxiety.



Add your scores and divide by five. If your average is higher than five, this dimension of faith is well-developed.



There is an amazing freedom that happens once you understand that you are a child of God - accepted, loved and saved. Psalm 23 talks about what that is like.



Connection: What difference does that freedom make in your actions?



Prayer:

Lord,

Make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy.

-- Francis of Assisi



Monday, 4 October, 2004

This week's devotions are written by Redeemer member Judith Bird.



Last week we began exploring questions about what faith is and how it is demonstrated in everyday life using "Exploring Faith Maturity: A Self-Study Guide," by Eugene Roehlkepartain and Dorothy Williams and published by Lutheran Brotherhood (now Thrivent). We got through four of the nine dimensions of the Christian faith that the book lays out in its "self assessment." Today, we pick up with up with the fifth "indicator" which the authors term "experiencing the fruits of faith."



Using the following scale, score yourself on the following five statements:

1 = Never true

2 = Rarely true

3 = True once in a while

4 = Sometimes true

5 = Often true

6 = Almost always true

7 = Always true



___ My life is filled with meaning and purpose.

___ I don't have a hard time accepting myself.

___ I do not feel overwhelmed by all my responsibilities and obligations.

___ I am confident that I can overcome any problem or crisis, no matter how serious.

___ My life is not filled with stress and anxiety.



Add your scores and divide by five. If your average is higher than five, this dimension of faith is well-developed.



There is an amazing freedom that happens once you understand that you are a child of God - accepted, loved and saved. Psalm 23 talks about what that is like.



Connection: What difference does that freedom make in your actions?



Prayer:

Lord,

Make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy.

-- Francis of Assisi